Meet Me in St. Louis Video

Average Rating:

My 6 year old daughter is hooked on it too now (and I guess that's about the age when I first saw it) and we often watch it together for a treat. I have watched it countless times and am always happy to watch it again.

Meet Me in St. Louis is essentially a "pastoral" musical that celebrates the values of small town America, a popular theme in MGM musicals, especially those directed by Minelli. The so-called delights of the big metropolis New York are exposed as undesirable and compared unfavorably with the simple "purer" family life of St. Louis - which is a big city too but "doesn't seem big, out here where we live".

But it is not just a chocolate box movie, in spite of the beautiful music, romantic theme and gorgeous costumes and photography. Of course it is full of great musical set pieces - such as The Trolley Song and Skip to My Lou - but it has many "dark episodes" as well. The best is when Vincente Minelli borrows very sucessfully from the horror genre for the Halloween scene, and the dark disturbing scene when the snow people are decapitated by Tudy who would rather destroy them rather than leave them behind for strangers. Also, I'm not sure what the two nuns at the Fair mean in the final scenes, but I'm sure they are significant because the camera focuses on them rather than the lead characters who are actually talking in that scene. Maybe I'll need to watch it a few hundred times more to decide.

The film opens like a Currier and Ives picture, on the street just outside the lovely, and busy, Smith home as Esther tries to get their maid Katie (Marjorie Main) to convince her Mom (Mary Astor) to have dinner a little early. It's a big deal which will upset their Dad's (Leon Ames) routine. The reason it must be moved forward all revolves around a phone call her sister Rose (Lucille Bremer) is expecting from her boyfriend Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully), which she hopes will be a proposal.

Minnelli slowly paints a beautiful portrait of an America long gone and does so in a loving way through the story of the Smith family. Both Agnes (Joan Carroll) and little Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) are a handful, but in a sweet way. Tootie's dolls all seem to contract a fatal disease and must be buried in the back yard! Chill Wills has a nice scene with her as the ice wagon driver, listening to the latest maladies of her doll. There is a wonderfully nostalgic scene during Halloween as Tootie becomes 'The Most Horrible' by throwing flower on old man Brokaw.

Tootie and Agnes play a nasty prank involving a pretend body on the trolly rails which involves John Truett (Tom Drake), the boy next door who Esther loves. In a wonderful scene, she goes through the house turning down the lights after an old fashioned party trying to get the shy Truett to kiss her. But when she thinks he has harmed Tootie she beats him up!

One of the most famous scenes in screen musical history is the trolly scene. Garland's Esther is wearing a blue skirt, black velvet blouse with white lace, and baby blue gloves. She has never been more beautiful than in this delightful and fun scene, looking back for John Truett and singing "The Trolly Song". It is cinematic magic that is unforgettable.

Of course, Esther and Rose plot to get the boys of their dreams while all this is going on and attempt to get the girl of their brother Lon's (Henry Daniels Jr.) dreams as well, the fancy girl from the east (June Lockart). Harry Davenport gives a nice performance also as Grandpa. But all does not go smooth as their father announces he has received a promotion and they will all be leaving their beloved St. Louis to live in New York after Christmas.

No one is happy as Christmas and the World's Fair approaches, least of all little Tootie, who lashes out angrily at her snowmen in a tearful scene unknowingly witnessed by their father. A lightbulb goes off of course and everyone realizes just what a wonderful life they have in St. Louis. This is all done in a beautiful technicolor production the likes of which has never been equaled.

There are some spectacular musical moments as well, including "The Boy Next Door", "Under the Bamboo Tree", and of course, Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Not to be forgotten is little Margaret O'Brien's "I Was Drunk Last Night"! This is one of the finest films of all time, not just one of the finest musicals. What does the mischievious Tootie want for Christmas? A hunting knife! This is one you must own.

Garland gives generously to her costar, Margaret O'Brien, a sort of Shirley Temple for the forties, who is nothing short of brilliant as the morbid youngest daughter Tootie, with the fascination for "dead" dolls. Her Halloween scene is remarkable and hilarious. The minimalist plot--Will Dad take the job in New York? Will Esther marry the boy next door, John Truitt? Will Rose wind up an old maid, like Katie?--never gets in the way of the lavish staging of the musical numbers. "The Trolley Song" is like a great music video, and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is still a standard. Great for the Holidays or any day, this movie is always sure to bring a smile. Watch for a very young June Lockhart ("Timmy and Lassie", "Lost in Space")as Lucille Ballard, the much-maligned New York socialite.